“Coworking San Cristobal de las Casas…is that even a thing that exists in a small colonial town in Southern Mexico?!”

This was one of our first questions when we contemplated moving to this small, charming town in Chiapas. While we were Playa del Carmen digital nomads, we were missing the authentic, cultural side of our travels. Whenever we asked our friends where we should go, we got a resounding “San Cristobal de las Casas!”.

So we decided that would be our next destination! We booked our flights and accommodation, but wait! The digital nomad life isn’t that simple. We forgot to research the most important question…

…how good is the wifi in San Cristobal de las Casas?

A couple of Reddit forums later and our minds were put at ease. The wifi seemed decent enough for at least our work. But little did we know…

…coworking in San Cristobal de las Casas exists! Can you imagine that in a small, colorful and mountain town in the middle of Chiapas, Mexico would have a coworking space?! I have to say I love how far and wide the digital nomad lifestyle has stretched across the world.

After living in San Cristobal de las Casas as digital nomads for 2.5 months, here are the best coworking spaces and our personal (and honest) reviews of them.

Best Digital Nomad Coworking Conditions

The truth is, not just ANY coworking space will do. After being digital nomads for 5 years now, we’ve created our own parameters of what makes a coworking space great. Here are some of our criteria for a coworking space:

Comfortable Chairs & Desks

In a perfect world, every coworking space would have rolly ergonomic chairs and big wide desks. We notice that a lot of digital nomads like to spread out on their side of the coworking desks (and we’re guilty of this too!).

The desks need to be wide enough that there is space for a second screen (I use my iPad) and/or long enough to be able to sit with your friends. The chairs need to be comfortable enough to sit in for at least 6 hours a day. Frankly, I’m tired of plastic chairs that have zero support! We get that this is the reality for many coworking spaces around the world, but anything supportive and comfortable is better than nothing!

Community That Makes You Feel Welcome

One of the main reasons we sign up for a coworking space is because of one word:

Community.

There’s a stat that 67% of digital nomads quit the lifestyle because of loneliness. We’ve felt this even as a digital nomad couple. How do we combat it? We make sure to join coworking spaces that have a REAL and active community behind them. And sometimes, even if the desks and chairs suck – we will choose a space because of the digital nomad community!

Reliable Wifi Speeds

Nothing annoys a digital nomad more than jittery wifi connections…especially if you make a lot of meetings/Zoom calls. The wifi isn’t the best around Mexico – we got consistent speeds of 10 Mbps to 35 Mbps. It’s not the fastest wifi in the world, but it worked fine for us!

TTA Tip: When you tour a coworking space – ask to connect to their wifi and test out the speed yourself before committing to the space.

As you can see, there are many benefits of coworking spaces for digital nomads. But what about coworking spaces in San Cristobal specifically?

Coworking In San Cristobal de las Casas For Digital Nomads

We flew from Cancun to Tuxtla Gutierrez and rode a taxi to the Pueblo Magico that is San Cristobal de las Casas. Our friends all told us that San Cris was known for:

• coffee
• chocolate
• local culture everywhere you go

The coffee was enough to convince us to go! But where were we going to work? We booked an Airbnb apartment 10 minutes walk from the center and while working from the very uncomfortable kitchen table and chairs we realised…

…We needed to find a coworking space in San Cristobal de las Casas. While we were spoilt for choice for Playa del Carmen coworking options, the two options available in San Cristobal de las Casas do well in comparison. Matthew and I love to have a dedicated workspace we can go to every day, a comfortable work environment and hopefully a cool community we can join.

Centralita Coworking – San Cristobal de las Casas

As I said, Matthew and I were working out of our Airbnb kitchen table. It was this really old-style set and it was just horrible to work from – we probably did some of our most unproductive work here. We got to the point where we just couldn’t take it any longer!

We wanted to do regular coworking days with our friends Paul & Bri and they found this cool coworking in San Cristobal de las Casas. After a couple of visits, we decided to commit for a month and rid ourselves of our uncomfortable work-from-home situation.

Centralita Coworking San Cristobal de las Casas offers some of the fastest wifi speeds in all of San Cris. You get a comfortable, light-filled workspace and a wonderful community. They have 2 locations around San Cristobal de las Casas – the Centro location and the Cerrillo location. You can float between the 2 locations on an unlimited monthly pass which we did regularly!

How To Book: To secure your membership, you can simply walk in to any location when you arrive and sign up. In fact, we recommend doing this rather than booking in advance! You can see the prices below. We signed up for a ‘Local’ package for 1 month of unlimited use, which tuned out to be around $85 USD – the cheapest coworking space we’ve worked at as digital nomads. Thankfully, they also have day passes if you’re only there for a short trip and need to answer a quick meeting or catch up on work.

We enjoyed coworking in San Cristobal de las Casas thanks to Centralita. They have created a beautiful space for digital nomads to do focused work and meet like-minded people.

Centralita Centro Coworking

The Centralita Centro location is the bigger of the 2 options. This is the original and most central location – they opened the Cerillo location a few weeks before we left San Cris. The Centralita Centro location is open longer hours on weekdays and also open on weekends, so if you need to work at night or on a weekend – this is your spot.

There are several wide tables for groups of people to work and there are also single tables around the whole space. The desks and chairs are a beautiful wood design and the space has lots of natural light all around the space. There are about 2-4 private offices that you can rent if you want your own space.

If you’re feeling peckish – they offer some pretty good snacks like avocado toast and fruit bowls and they even serve coffee. Though you’re better off getting coffee at La Frontera just around the block! There’s also a little communal kitchen area where they have a sink to wash dishes, a microwave to heat food and some cutlery to use. There’s an outdoor seating area with a hammock and a couple of seats which is where we had lunch most days!

Room For Improvement: The only thing that was a little weird (and if it only happened a handful of times I wouldn’t really bother mentioning it)…it was quite noisy at the Centralita Centro location! They had a bit of a weird system where if you wanted some peace and quiet – you had to go to the quiet room. Most coworking spaces usually have meeting rooms/call booths to help keep the noise at a minimum (which makes sense).

So what are you left with? A large space filled with people taking Zoom calls (sometimes without even using headphones) – definitely distracting and honestly kind of annoying. We overheard a whole sales call pitch, a yoga class and more because they allow calls in the main space. I’m not sure if this is still the case (it seemed like they were still working out what they wanted to do), but if you want quiet, you might have had to pay for the quiet room. Overall, we weren’t impressed by this weird system and could have done without all the noise.

Centralita Cerrillo Coworking

Our favorite coworking space in San Cristobal de las Casas was the Centralita Cerrillo location! They opened it a few weeks before we left and so we got to work from there for a short time. This location was much closer to our house and we honestly found it to be the better of the 2 coworking spaces. Why?

Views. Views. Views. They have a beautiful floor-to-ceiling glass window overlooking some greenery and mountains. They have gorgeous garden views and you could even take calls outside on the grass if you wanted. The beautiful coworking space has an outdoor area with a few chairs, hammocks and even a treehouse to work from! Honestly, some of the best coworking views we’ve had!

Centralita Cerrillo is only open on weekdays from 9am til 5pm. We enjoyed this space so much more because it was also much quieter! This location wasn’t as well known by the members at the time which could be the reason – but it also seemed like everyone wanted to keep the space pretty quiet there. Most people decided to take calls outside in the garden area so it worked so much better for everyone! There isn’t an office space for rent available at this location.

This location does have fewer desks and chairs, so it’s worth going early and snagging yours for the day. You can leave your stuff there and head out to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants in San Cristobal de las Casas, Tok Tok Wok. This Centralia coworking location does not have a communal kitchen but there is still free coffee, water and tea as with all Centralita locations.

Co.404 Coliving & Coworking in San Cristobal de las Casas

Our friends’ hosts (Joss, Lau & Dave) opened this spot just before we left! They are a community-focused coliving and coworking space in San Cristobal de las Casas – the first of its kind! We spent many months at a coliving space in Bali called Bali Bustle and we enjoyed every minute of it. If you get a chance to try coliving – do it! And even better if you can do it at Co.404 in San Cris!

There are tons of benefits of coliving for digital nomads, so make sure you take the opportunity!

Co.404 Coliving

You can choose to book a shared dorm or you can book a private room all to yourself. There are many options for every kind of budget at Co.404. The best part about planting yourself in a coliving space is that you can make friends instantly!

Co.404 Coliving focuses on building a family atmosphere amongst their guests. One of the ways they do this is by having tons of weekly activities for everyone to join and the option for guests to make suggestions too, like:

• Sunrise hikes
• Picnics
• Family dinners
• BBQs
• Weekend trips to the different attractions here
• Cooking classes
• Market tours
• Salsa nights
• Digital nomad workshops

We met the owners through our friends and they are the sweetest and most welcoming trio! With a huge focus on community, your calendar will be packed with weekend activities up until you leave – and best of all, you’ll have a fun group to go with!

Co.404 Coworking

If you stay at the Co.404 coliving space, you automatically get access to the coworking space. This is included in the price of your stay – a great way to save some dollars! The wonderful people at Co.404 made all of the furniture you see in the space. They designed the coworking space with wooden desks and chairs which complement the entire space as a whole.

The wifi speeds at Co.404 are much higher than Centralita, boasting speeds of 60 Mbps to 80 Mbps. They also have 2 different connections in case one goes out – smart thinking if you ask me! You have access to a communal kitchen, a Netflix and chill lounge and a beautiful garden with a terrace you can spend your lunchbreaks in!

Note: To access the coworking space, you need to be staying at their coliving space. The costs of the coliving space include free coffee and tea plus access to the coworking and conference rooms for calls/meetings.

Want to book your spot at Co.404? For a wide private room and bathroom for one month, it costs $15,064 MXN or $868 USD. This is a discounted rate, however you can also pay a standard rate per night or a weekly rate.  Don’t forget, the price includes the coworking space too! The best way to book is to DM them on Instagram and/or email them.

Best Cafes To Work From in San Cristobal de las Casas

One of the main reasons we decided to go to San Cristobal de las Casas is because of the plethora of cafes all around the city. Here’s a short list of some of the best cafes in San Cristobal de las Casas that we enjoyed working from.

La Frontera Artisan Coffee & Bakery

If you can snag yourself a spot in the garden area of La Frontera, you’ll be rewarded with a peaceful space to work for the morning/afternoon. The coffee, hot chocolate and brunch food were some of the best in San Cristobal de las Casas.

We went to this cafe a lot because they didn’t mind if we brought out our laptops! The only thing was, the wifi was very spotty. They have both indoor and outdoor spaces and I remember having to move from table to table to get better wifi (not ideal). If you come early in the morning when there are fewer people – it’s a great cafe to work from with more stable wifi.

Cafeologia

The best coffee in San Cristobal de las Casas is found at Cafeologia. We enjoyed their cappuccinos, cold brews and kombucha! The space is beautifully and minimally designed which we love the look of.

This was one of the cafes that didn’t really want you to stay very long with a laptop. There was a stick on each table that said 1-hour max. However, we noticed it wasn’t really ‘policed’ so it seemed like you could probably get away with staying longer.

This is still one of the most beautiful cafes in all of San Cristobal and worth a visit!

Amor Negro Cafe

We had our eyes on Amor Negro Cafe ever since we first booked our flights to Tuxtla Guiterrez! Amor Negro Cafe (aka Black Love Coffee) is located inside the Plaza San Augustin and it’s also beautifully styled. Being in the plaza, you feel like you’re in a big, light-filled space where you can get some work done.

They also didn’t seem too happy whenever we brought our laptops out. I would just keep the hours to a minimum when visiting places like this.

We were happy with the number of choices of cafes to work from, however…they seemed to keep you at a time limit at some cafes. The laptop lifestyle wasn’t as well received in our experience which is why I recommend choosing a coworking space instead.

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We want to hear from you…

Have you tried any of these coworking spaces? Is San Cristobal de las Casas on your Mexico bucket list? Comment below and let us know. We read every response!